Summarised by Centrist
New Zealand’s Health Ministry has conceded that 2023 vaping regulations introduced by the former Labour government were based on “limited evidence,” prompting the current coalition to scrap the rules amid a court case.
The reversal lifts a controversial requirement for all vape devices to have removable batteries, a rule that effectively banned many products and triggered legal action from vape retailer Shosha.
The requirement had been pushed through under Labour’s Ayesha Verrall, who claimed it would improve product safety. However, officials now acknowledge the rule was built more on borrowed ideas from other countries than actual local risk data.
The Labour-imposed battery rule also blocked heated tobacco products (HTPs) like Philip Morris’s IQOS from the New Zealand market, stalling a pilot programme to offer HTPs as a harm-reduction alternative to smoking.
Now, the left is accusing NZ First of industry ties. RNZ published documents alleging past contact between Philip Morris and Winston Peters’ party.
Labour’s Verrall claimed the documents proved the need for her private member’s bill banning government engagement with tobacco interests.
But Peters hit back, calling the allegations political theatre and pointing out that government agencies, including Health and Customs, have regularly consulted the industry for years.
Health lobby groups like Vape-Free Kids are demanding that Prime Minister Luxon remove the vaping portfolio from NZ First. Luxon declined, saying Costello was doing a “great job.”
Read more over at The NZ Herald and RNZ here and here
